Studying the codes The city received 231 proposed amendments—191 from city departments and local utilities, and 43 from community groups, individuals and the San Antonio River Authority. Of these, 191 revisions are moving forward with recommended approval. Two more were recommended for denial, and 38 others were withdrawn.
Code changers
Below is a sampling of amendments submitted for the Uni ed Development Code by public and nonpublic organizations, including the number of revisions up for City Council passage.
recommended for approval
recommended for denial
withdrawn
sent approved
2
Development services
Neighborhood & housing services
Total=231
57 sent 55 approved
7 sent 5 approved
191
38
Planning
Tier 1 Neighborhood Coalition
NOTE: THESE ARE UPDATED NUMBERS AS OF SEPT. 13. SOURCE: CITY OF SAN ANTONIO COMMUNITY IMPACT NEWSPAPER
28 sent 14 approved
13 sent 8 approved
According to Sparrow, the city’s planning, zoning, and historic and design review commissions as well as the board of adjustments collec- tively recommended approving 191 amendments. The same boards and commis- sions rejected another ve proposed revisions; the remaining 33 propos- als were later withdrawn, Sparrow said, adding that 11 city departments and o ces originally submitted 173 amendments. “That’s fairly typical. In the UDC amendment process, these are city departments working with this code Monday through Friday, 7:45 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. That’s their full-time jobs, so we are the ones who are often on the front lines dealing with issues and con icts in our code,” Sparrow said. Sparrow also said total withdraw- als were instances where a person or group saw that their proposal was sim- ilar to another sender’s submission. “Those people withdrew their amendments because we don’t need four versions of the same one de ni- tion,” Sparrow said. In the 2015 UDC review cycle, city o cials said they received 296 total proposed amendments and approved 205 changes. Shannon said he was impressed by the number of individuals and groups who took part in the new review cycle. “By far, this is the most [engage- ment] that I’ve seen,” Shannon said. Secondary homes, short-term rentals According to city o cials, there were lengthy board and commission discussions and public comments surrounding proposed amendments a ecting issues, such as accessory dwelling units—or ADUs—and short- term rentals. One submittal from the city’s neighborhood and housing services
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new and existing development, especially drainage runo and con- struction in oodplains; building or preserving residential accessory dwelling units; and limiting short- term rentals. According to local o cials, City Council expects to review and act on nal recommendations in Octo- ber, and city sta will spend Novem- ber and December training on UDC changes before they take e ect Jan. 1, 2023. District 8 Council Member Manny Pelaez said updating the UDC every ve years helps a growing city, such as San Antonio, ensure any and all approved development maintains the character, well-being and safety of the surrounding community. Pelaez also said code amendments help eliminate or reduce unnecessary development-related costs. “Revising the UDC also ensures standardization. We want to stan- dardize rules for everyone across the Services Direc- tor Michael Shannon said this UDC review cycle was supposed to hap- pen in 2020, but it was delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic. Regardless, the UDC review lets the city catch up with new federal and state laws as well as development patterns and challenges in the regulatory process, he said. “San Antonio is rapidly growing, signi cantly. We want to make sure, as it develops, it does so in a safe, orderly manner,” Shannon said. Logan Sparrow, policy administra- tor with the city’s development ser- vices department, informed North Side residents about the UDC revision process in a July 26 public meeting at Phil Hardberger Park. board,” Pelaez added. Suggesting changes Development
Public works
Greater Edwards Aquifer Alliance
44 sent 44 approved
9 sent 4 approved
NOTE: THIS LIST DOES NOT REFLECT THE TOTALITY OF INDIVIDUALS AND ORGANIZATIONS THAT SUBMITTED AMENDMENTS. SOURCE: CITY OF SAN ANTONIO COMMUNITY IMPACT NEWSPAPER
department and housing commis- sion o ers multiple changes to rules a ecting ADUs—smaller, second- ary home structures built on a sin- gle-family residential property—city o cials said. Such changes increase the maxi- mum ADU size from 800 square feet to 1,600 square feet, cap ADUs’ height at two stories and loosen limits on the
families to o er supportive living options for those with disabilities,” Powell told the planning commission. Tier One Neighborhood Coalition, an alliance of multiple inner-city San Antonio neighborhoods, o ered amendments a ecting matters such as improved community engagement, new height limits in speci c residen- tial areas and limiting short-term rentals. Regarding short-term rental prop- erties—another topic of contention, city sta said—the TONC proposes removing the word “face” from the term “block face” in a zoning rule for short-term rentals where the prop- erty owner/operator resides on the property. City o cials said this verbiage change could further limit the num- ber of short-term rentals allowed on a single residential block. Several property owners and advo- cacy groups, such as the Short Term Rental Association of San Antonio, oppose this proposal, saying no evi- dence supports what they fear is a big change to the existing city short-term rental law. “Additionally, such changes might negatively impact the short-term rental business in San Antonio, which generates substantial tax and tour- ism revenues,” STRASA Board Mem- ber Shelley Galbraith told the zoning commission July 5. At the July 26 meeting in Hard- berger Park, some attendees said they want the city to strengthen its
SAN ANTONIO IS RAPIDLY GROWING, SIGNIFICANTLY. WE WANT TO MAKE SURE, AS IT DEVELOPS, IT DOES SO IN A SAFE, ORDERLY MANNER. DEVELOPMENT SERVICES DIRECTOR MICHAEL SHANNON
number of bedrooms. Supporters of ADU rule changes, such as Leilah Powell, Local Ini- tiatives Support Corporation San Antonio executive director, said the revisions will enable local homeown- ers to convert and preserve ADUs on their properties and provide for more a ordable housing options citywide. “ADUs provide opportunities to stabilize homeownership through passive rental income, create more a ordable options for renters, pre- vent displacement for older San Anto- nians seeking to age in place and allow
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COMMUNITY IMPACT NEWSPAPER • COMMUNITYIMPACT.COM
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